I am a new DM with a new group of 6 PCs gearing up to start Phandelver. We are making our own characters, and I had two general questions about how to introduce the players to the adventure:
1) Character Backgrounds: How much info about the adventure/Neverwinter area should I share with the players while they are making their characters to allow for them to tailor their backgrounds? I ask this because the pre-made characters have some nice background ties to the adventure (the cleric being a relative of Gundren and the rogue having a relative in Phandalin) and it made me think that something similar for our players would be nice.
2) Hooks: Are there any suggestions on hooks I could use to get the characters interested in helping Gundren? The book starts with the PCs already several days into the journey from Neverwinter, but I'd like to step back a bit and dig into the Neverwinter experience before the book starts. If anyone has done this or has any recommendations I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
One hook can be the Pc's are hired to guard a caravan of followup supplies for the Gundren expedition... thus when they discover the problems ... they are invested...
Also, you can work with the players to dole out similar backgrounds that the pre-gens had... a contact in phandalin, relative, etc...
There are a lot of approaches to this. If you had the traditional "meet in a tavern" setting the players, particularly ones newer to DnD may end up wandering around aimlessly.
I'd recommend trying to get some background from each of your characters then write up a quick narrative for them.
What I did (and this is certainly not the only way to do things) was:
received a bit of background from each character. IIRC one was an apprentice brewer, another was a con-artist, another was a soldier and the last was a vagrant.
Started with them about a 1/2 day from Neverwinter. I gave each of them a bit of story as to why they had chosen to escort the wagon (the con-artist needed to get out of town for a few days, the brewer was a bad brewer but was taking a keg from Neverwinter to Phandolin, the vagrant and soldier just needed work)
As the wagon travelled, I asked the players to talk about whatever their characters would talk about to kill time on the road.
I also threw a small encounter (a couple of bandits trying to sneak up on them) the first night. An attack generally gets the party to work together quickly.
Hope that gives you some ideas.
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
One hook can be the Pc's are hired to guard a caravan of followup supplies for the Gundren expedition... thus when they discover the problems ... they are invested...
Also, you can work with the players to dole out similar backgrounds that the pre-gens had... a contact in phandalin, relative, etc...
A question here. How much info about the adventure should I give them? I want to give them enough to create some relevant background, but not too much that spoilers are revealed. Suggestions?
In regards to how much information you should give them; I'd say you don't have to give any additional info beyond what the adventure already gives if you're willing to add or change elements in the adventure. For instance, take the Dungeon World approach and ask the players questions to fill in the gaps--let them make their own connections.
Examples: 1. Someone here has a prior history with your employer Gundren Rockseeker. Who is it, and how do you know this dwarf? 2. One of your characters has a relative who lives in Phandalin. Who has this relative, and what's your character's connection with him/her/them? 3. There's an NPC in Phandalin who owes one of you a debt. Who is it, and what reasonable debt is owed? 4. The shrine in Phandalin is expecting one of you to visit. Who plans to visit the shrine, and why are you expected there?
As you can imagine, this gives the players some creative authority to make up a connection to Phandalin. As the DM, this method might make you change an NPC's name or add an NPC who isn't written into the module.
I never needed to reach further than what was already provided by the adventure itself.
I simply emphasized the friend part of Gundren more than the patron one, so that the PCs already knew the three Rockseeker brothers on a more private way. In this way of course they felt compelled to help them, no matter what.
In addition to this, the dwarf cleric PC is a relative to them...
Characters background are already very clear and tightly designed
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Hi all,
I am a new DM with a new group of 6 PCs gearing up to start Phandelver. We are making our own characters, and I had two general questions about how to introduce the players to the adventure:
1) Character Backgrounds: How much info about the adventure/Neverwinter area should I share with the players while they are making their characters to allow for them to tailor their backgrounds? I ask this because the pre-made characters have some nice background ties to the adventure (the cleric being a relative of Gundren and the rogue having a relative in Phandalin) and it made me think that something similar for our players would be nice.
2) Hooks: Are there any suggestions on hooks I could use to get the characters interested in helping Gundren? The book starts with the PCs already several days into the journey from Neverwinter, but I'd like to step back a bit and dig into the Neverwinter experience before the book starts. If anyone has done this or has any recommendations I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
One hook can be the Pc's are hired to guard a caravan of followup supplies for the Gundren expedition... thus when they discover the problems ... they are invested...
Also, you can work with the players to dole out similar backgrounds that the pre-gens had... a contact in phandalin, relative, etc...
There are a lot of approaches to this. If you had the traditional "meet in a tavern" setting the players, particularly ones newer to DnD may end up wandering around aimlessly.
I'd recommend trying to get some background from each of your characters then write up a quick narrative for them.
What I did (and this is certainly not the only way to do things) was:
Hope that gives you some ideas.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
Love it, thank you!!
A question here. How much info about the adventure should I give them? I want to give them enough to create some relevant background, but not too much that spoilers are revealed. Suggestions?
You could always use the material here:
https://media.wizards.com/downloads/dnd/StarterSet_Characters.pdf
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
In regards to how much information you should give them; I'd say you don't have to give any additional info beyond what the adventure already gives if you're willing to add or change elements in the adventure. For instance, take the Dungeon World approach and ask the players questions to fill in the gaps--let them make their own connections.
Examples:
1. Someone here has a prior history with your employer Gundren Rockseeker. Who is it, and how do you know this dwarf?
2. One of your characters has a relative who lives in Phandalin. Who has this relative, and what's your character's connection with him/her/them?
3. There's an NPC in Phandalin who owes one of you a debt. Who is it, and what reasonable debt is owed?
4. The shrine in Phandalin is expecting one of you to visit. Who plans to visit the shrine, and why are you expected there?
As you can imagine, this gives the players some creative authority to make up a connection to Phandalin. As the DM, this method might make you change an NPC's name or add an NPC who isn't written into the module.
I never needed to reach further than what was already provided by the adventure itself.
I simply emphasized the friend part of Gundren more than the patron one, so that the PCs already knew the three Rockseeker brothers on a more private way. In this way of course they felt compelled to help them, no matter what.
In addition to this, the dwarf cleric PC is a relative to them...
Characters background are already very clear and tightly designed